Hawthorn Coach Sam Mitchell says his side struggled to make the most of their chances after being outclassed by an experienced Sydney outfit at the SCG on Sunday.

The Hawks faced a tough day from the outset, with the Swans showing their dominance from the get-go coasting to a convincing 81-point win. 

Speaking post-game Mitchell said his side faced a lot of missed opportunities, particularly in the early stages of the game.

“It was a frustrating game, if you said ‘you come up to Sydney and break-even with tackles, and win the clearance count,” you’d think we were much closer than we were,” Mitchell said.

“But we were our own worst enemies, and they are a very good side of course.

“As soon as we made a mistake, they were very quick to pounce on it and put us away it makes it really tough to play with any level of confidence once you’re on the back foot.

“We had plenty of opportunities and a lot of chances in the front half of the ground, but we just couldn’t make the most of them.

“Sydney played in the grand final last year – and they are going to be a good side again - we saw that in the way they go about it with such a methodical nature, we haven’t got to that stage yet.”

The Hawks battled hard around the stoppages and more than matched the Swans at clearances, winning those 35-27, but the hosts proved to be far more organised with ball in hand.

“When we looked at some of the things we did well and some of the fundamentals of the game, you recognise these are all things well in our control,” Mitchell added.

“We actually caused them some trouble in different phases of the game and in different aspects, but we just couldn’t sustain it for long enough.

“Every time we make an improvement in one area, it seems as though something else is breaking down and really we struggled at both ends of the park this week.”

Mitchell said while Sydney controlled most of the game, he believed the scoreline was not a a complete reflection of how the game panned out.  

“Last week we finished the game saying that was a really disappointing way to play and the performance we put up was not reflective of where we are at,” Mitchell said.

“This week we played a very good side and we had a lot of missed opportunities I think if we play that side again, we can get a lot closer than that.

“They really did make us pay – we had ample opportunities to really defend better than we did, good opportunities to score, good even numbered contests with our best contest players around the ball – but we lost today.

“I would like to think we’re better than the scoreboard has suggested in the first two rounds.”

Despite sitting 2-0 to start the season, Mitchell was confident that his side would not be lacking spirit and morale moving forward throughout their 2023 campaign.

“The players after the game got an understanding of what happened today, and they were quite hard on each other around the spirit and that they didn’t produce it for long enough,” Mitchell said.

“While I’ve got the players pushing for it, it’s not going to be a concern.

“I think the group is a really spirited group – they’re close, they’re all really good friends and they spend a lot of time together – and for the most part they do play for each other.

“We haven’t seen that come to fruition just yet, but we’re two rounds into a 23-round season.”

Hear more from Mitchell post-game below.